Ok, I know, the blog posts are getting fewer and further
between. It simply means we are having fun and can’t be arsed writing about it.
I last left you in Dijon and from there we headed back to
the Rhone, to see the bits we missed on our way up. We camped near Tain
L’Hermitage and our brilliant spot had views across to the famous Hermitage
vineyards of Chapoutier and Jaboulet etc.
We could look directly across the river to ‘La Chapelle’, a
wonderful wine (and chapel) that Lawrence had a great collection of until I
came into his life. It’s a bloody good drop of Syrah. Sadly, we can’t afford to
buy more, and we simply don’t have anywhere to store it.
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| View from campsite - Hermitage vineyards and La Chapelle on the hill. |
We celebrated our second wedding anniversary here, and
because we couldn’t find a restaurant with a decent wine list open on the day,
we decided to cook our own. We bought a fab bottle of Hermitage, opened a good
Champagne to start and finished with a Jurançon doux – oh and we had some food
as well (confit de canard and delicious cheese).
We spent the Monday walking through these famous vineyards, examining
vine training and techniques, always fascinated. One is not just allowed to
walk through, but actively encouraged with pathways and good signage explaining
varieties and even vinification techniques. Sheer heaven to wine wankers!!
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| Me at La Chapelle |
Next stop was ‘The Ardeche’, a mountainous region on the
eastern edge of the Massif Central. The plan was to do some walking, but I had
some odd virus and wasn’t up to much. We managed one lovely (but easy) walk and
of course a few lunches and brilliant scenery.
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| The Ardeche |
We then headed back to the Gers to catch up with Alison and
David (remember the house Au Petit Lombard?) and spent the weekend drinking rosé
and soaking up the sun.
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| Sunny sunflowers in the Gers region |
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| Millau Viaduct on the way |
We then spent almost two weeks in the French Pyrenees
staying with my sister Pip and her hubbie Mike who have rented a Gîte there for
3 months. Remember the ones who rode from the Black Sea to the Atlantic??? Yes,
the mad ones.
They are now ensconced in a tiny village in a truly
beautiful area south of Foix. The region is filled with soaring peaks, small
villages and thousand year old churches. We spent the 2 weeks cycling up hills
to pubs and cafes, and cruising downhill home. The walking in the area is
wonderful and we did a memorable walk following a stream that became cascades
and then a majestic waterfall. All this exercise of course, was rewarded by
lots of good wine, the odd beer and a few good lunches.
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| Hiking in Pyrenees with Pip and Mike |
We did a quick foray into Spain, (having said “we won’t be back”
– famous last words) via Andorra. Andorra is everything we’d read about,
overdeveloped, low rent ski resorts and cheap gin (which is why we were
there!). The drive through the Spanish Pyrenees was simply stunning,
breathtaking, so different from the greener, softer, French side. We spent the
night in a low key Spanish town and raided Mercadona (favourite supermarket)
for good cheap Spanish wine.
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| Pyrenees Waterfall |
Sadly we had to say au revoir, and head to Toulouse. Can you
believe we needed to get new tyres on Boris?? No, I can’t either. Anyway, the
ones we had just weren’t up to the weight of the vehicle. One more bottle of
wine and they might burst. So we spent 2 nights in Toulouse to get this sorted
and managed some cycling along the canal in the Centre Ville and a bit of sight
seeing. Most of this was spent in the Mephisto shop. For those of you with a
shoe fetish combined with a need to wear to ‘old ladies shoes’, Mephisto is the
business. I could have bought 20 pairs of these stylish shoes but since I
already own 2 pairs of Mephistos I had to restrain myself and allow Lawrence to
buy one pair.
We are now in Aix-en-Provence, a surprisingly lovely town,
on our way to the Vercors for some mountain walking, or so we hope. After that,
wait for it, we will head to ITALY!!!
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| Flower Market in Aix-en-Provence |
After spending 2 years doing Spain, Portugal, France,
Germany and the UK, we are FINALLY going to Italy!!! “Hallelujah!!” I hear you
say. I couldn’t agree more.
